New Mystery
by Ephemeral Dream
Summary: SMCCS excerpt:“Usagi Tsukino…Tsuki…Moon…no…Usagi…Bunny,” Eriol mumbled to himself. “Moon Bunny! Ha, and I thought you were dead Serenity!”
1. Default Chapter

The girl had long blonde hair. The golden strands twisted themselves into a tight bun and then let loose itself in two decorative streamers. Her skin was light and looked to be very soft, perfectly contrasting her pink lips and blue eyes. And those eyes. So blue, so deep, as if it held all the knowledge in the world and was still innocent despite that knowledge. On her finger, there was a pink ring, holding the shape of a heart and resembling an engagement ring. But of course she was too young to be engaged. She could only be fifteen or so if she had entered this 10th grade class.

Poise like that of royalty, and yet, a humble smile of a child. She bowed before her new classmates and introduced herself.

"My name is Usagi Tsukino. It is a pleasure to meet you. I may have blonde hair and blue eyes, but I assure you that I am Japanese. I enjoy simple things such as eating and sleeping, but would very much like to become friends with all of you." Usagi bowed again to signify the ending of her introduction.

Heads turned to look at this new girl. No, she wasn't quite beautiful. Nor was she unbelievably cute, like the popular Sakura Kinomoto. No, it was something else, something very attracting. She took a seat next to the class beauty, Tomoyo Daidouji. Their opposite, yet equally attractive, features complemented both of the two girls nicely. The girls locked eyes, Tomoyo smiling gently, as was her rich-girl habit, and Usagi cheerfully presenting straight white teeth.

Sakura peered back from her seat located two rows ahead of Tomoyo. And Syaoran scowled from one seat to the right of Sakura. Something seemed strange. They hadn't had a transfer student in a while, but the few times that they'd had, it had been trouble. Trouble spiced up with a bit of magic, exempting Syaoran's recent return, of course. It seemed suspicious. And not only that, Syaoran couldn't help but be absolutely annoyed by even her presence.

But, Usagi did look like a nice girl, and whatever doubtful thoughts Sakura had seemed to vanish. This sweet girl made Sakura feel strangely happy. 'Floaty even,' Sakura thought, and it had been a long time since she had last used that word. Forgetting to pay attention to the teacher, Sakura took out a blank sheet of paper addressing it to her old friend Eriol.

_Dear Eriol, we have a new girl in class, her name is…_

As Sakura finished signing her name, the bell rung, it was break. She stayed seated as it was well-known to her friends that they would come to her. Syaoran, as always got there first, just in time for both of them to give a quick peck to one another before the rest of the group arrived. Rika, Naoko, Tomoyo, and was it Usagi?

Introductions were done, and redone in Usagi's case.

"I heard there's a lot of 'sightings' in the place you come from," Naoko started.

"Ehh?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Oh, I heard about that also. Mysterious reports about 'things' that single out a person and try to drain their energy," Tomoyo remarked.

"Ah, that," replied Usagi, laughing, "Those stories are very old, don't you know? Nowadays, all the 'sightings' are fake. Before, there was some concrete evidence of the presence of those 'things'. Now, most are hoaxes that are easily found out."

"You seem well-informed," Syaoran said, in a distrusting voice. He received an elbow in the stomach both from his girlfriend and Tomoyo.

'Hee, well, there's a rumor that people will only talk about and not write upon. A champion of justice, Sailor Moon, is always there to help out and keep the people safe," Usagi replied with a glazy look in her eye, "She catches people's attention and naturally, people want to know everything about her. But there's lack of information, therefore, it never was publicized."

"I've heard of that, too" Rika said, "my younger cousin lives there too, and used to mention that."

"Scary," Sakura moaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't happen anymore," Usagi explained comfortingly, "And if it did, Sailor Moon would come to your rescue like she did for all the other people."

The bell rung once more and class resumed. The students returned to their seats as the door slammed open. A fairly young teacher entered the class. He wore frameless glasses and had short messy hair. His attire consisted of a sweater, jeans and a tie.

"Okay, you brats," he said, "You better have done your homework."

"Yes, Professor Kinomoto," came the chorus reply. Sakura ducked her head to avoid looking at her brother/teacher.

Eventually, lunch came. Tomoyo and Usagi had bonded over their partner class work, Syaoran was in a bad mood due to a certain teacher, and Sakura had finished her letter. As the rest of the people assembled for lunch, a blanket was spread out on the grass and smaller groups formed, allowing conversation to take place.

These groups shifted and changed on the whims of the individuals who made them up along with the topics of discussion. Besides the addition of a new person (aka Usagi), lunch ran normally. When it ended, hunger was sated and a cheery mood had infused itself within the teenagers. They moved back towards their classes, glad to have only one left, for it was a block day.

Sakura and Syaoran pinched off to take the longer route for some alone time.

"I don't like Usagi," Syaoran grumbled.

"Mm, you don't like anyone at first," Sakura replied, "I like her. When I'm near her, I feel floaty."

"Exactly my point," Syaoran exclaimed, "When was the last time you used the word 'floaty'? Not since we were in elementary school with Ms. Mitsuki."

Sakura said nothing."

"What I'm trying to say is be careful," Syaoran mumbled, "She may be magical and dangerous."

Sakura lifted up a sealed envelope. The back read 'Eriol' in cursive.

"I know," Sakura said, "But I've written a letter to Eriol about her. And just to comfort you, I'll use the Cards to transport it fast for a quick reply. He should know about her. After all, he was Clow."

_Windy…_

Syaoran said nothing. It seemed like a perfectly good solution, surprising from the unsuspecting Sakura. However, Syaoran hated Eriol. Though he couldn't bring up his petty annoyance of his ancestor to Sakura, it bugged him to have to resort to consulting Eriol. Still, Sakura was asking, not him, so he let it slide.

Windy held the letter in her hand and nodded with understandment. Flying off to London, the Sakura Card disappeared into the sky. Syaoran wanted to watch, but Sakura pulled him along. They were going to be late to class.

Windy reached the mansion house that Eriol resided in with Kaho. Through the window, past various rooms, down the hallway-

"A letter?" Eriol asked. "And to be brought so quickly…"

Windy waited, floating in the air, as Eriol read through the letter. There was a lot of unimportant stuff and additional courtesy questions to make the letter seem normal. But the fact that Windy was there in the room implied something. Eriol picked out the key informative sentences.

"Usagi Tsukino…Tsuki…Moon…no…Usagi…Bunny," Eriol mumbled to himself. "Moon Bunny! Ha, and I thought you were dead Serenity!"


	2. Chapter 2

Eriol reread the letter, this time reading all of it. He had already sent Windy back to her new master, Sakura, with a letter without one of his cheery updates or vague hints. He couldn't afford to give away too much, Serenity not being a person to trifle with. Instead, his reply had been brief with but two statements; I'm coming. Don't leave Syaoran with her.

Finished, Eriol got up from his comfortable arm chair. He walked towards the library, letter in hand, and a certain book in mind. He wasn't surprised to find Spinel, in what Sakura and Tomoyo called his "cute form," lying down on his stomache, bathed in orange afternoon sunlight, reading an ancient text from the massive library. Spinel looked up at his young master.

"I thought you read all of these already, Master Eriol," Spinel stated in a questioning way.

"That was in another lifetime, Spinel," Eriol replied, pulling out books and looking them over, "And I have a particular weakness in remembering the historical stuff."

"Historical," Spinel repeated. He shifted onto his side to read the title of the book Eriol chose. "History of the Moon? What's that supposed to mean? Astronomy?"

Eriol walked over to Spinel. He placed a hand on Spinel's head, scratching behind the ears, and the black creature flicked his tail in suspicion. Then bringing his other hand up, Eriol put a pointed finger to his lips.

"Beween you and I, Spinel." Eriol bent down until he was eye level with the small guardian. His stare made the creature shudder. "I trust you won't tell Naraku, hmm?"

Eriol walked out of the library.

"Goodbye, Spinel." And he was gone.

"Sakura-chan," Usagi said, for she had become friends with Sakura and Tomoyo, "Thank you for inviting me to your house!"

"No problem, Usagi-chan," Sakura replied, letting the new girl into the house, "And Tomoyo should be here soon with some treats!"

Dropping bags and pushing off shoes, the girls chatted about the days events. They walked upstairs to Sakura's room and Sakura kept the conversation going, knowing Kero would catch on and hide himself. He was pretty good about that.

Sakura cautiously opened the door to her room, checking for Kero. Then, spying him stiff on the bed, she fully opened entrance and let Usagi in. They set down their bags and soon heard Tomoyo knocking at the door.

"Be right back," said Sakura rushing down the stairs to welcome her best friend.

Usagi sat on Sakura's bed and picked up the cute stuffed animal propped against the pillow. She started playing with the funny thing, tossing it above her head. It hit the ceiling and Usagi could've sworn she saw it move. She was so surprised, that she wasn't able to catch the thing on the way down.

Without her hands there to catch the stuffed animal, or mighty gaurdian, though that was unbeknownst to her, the small creature landed on the white carpet and rolled into Sakura's backpack. The cute, pink back pack knocked over from its resting position against the wall and something tumbled out.

"Ah, Sakura-chan's stuff!" Usagi exclaimed and rushed to the bag, forgetting that she had just seen a stuffed animal twitch.

They were beautiful pink cards, with astrological symbols on the backs and mysterious pictures on the front. Each picture differed from the others, sometimes depicting objects, and sometimes things that looked quite like people. Usagi could feel a pulse of energy from the cards. One pulse similar to her own, and another more like the one she used to get from Mamoru. Used to. A sad smile came over Usagi's face for just a moment, before she blinked her eyes and put on a look of concentration. Why were the cards emanating power?

Just then, something rustled in Usagi's book bag. First, a little wet nose poked out of the corner, followed by the rest of the head, which pushed against the bags cover flap. Small paws appeared too, and the bag continued to rustle. The bag shook and shook and when it finally stopped, some desperate meowing began. Usagi sighed and went over to her book bag.

"Luna, you fell asleep in there again? I keep telling you that now that I'm in high school, it would be better for you to stay home. I might get in trouble." Usagi pleaded to the animal, as if it were more than just a cat, while she lifted the flap and let the creature out. "Nothing bad has happened since…since a while! Besides, you always end up falling asleep anyway, and then I have cat fur in my bag!"

The cat began to prune itself, licking its paws as if being trapped in her owner's bag was nothing at all to be embarrassed about.

"Well, without Ami, Makoto, or Rei, I don't know if I trust you," the cat replied calmly. She avoided mentioning the outers, for whenever one of the outers went with Usagi, Haruka usually went too, and although Luna knew Haruka would willingly give her life to protect Usagi, Luna did think the woman drove a bit too fast. As for Minako…

"And I'm _sure_ Artemis is having the time of his life with Minako right now. She's bound to be even more trouble now that she's been scouted for modeling or whatever she's so excited about."

The cat paused and blinked, wiping a paw over her sleepy eyes.

"Hmm, not that I find that type of job the most productive of all careers out there, but I've been wondering for a while. Why didn't you take that job with her, Usagi? The agent said you could pass for sisters and that sister models would be a big hit. Four months ago that would have made you ecstatic."

"I'm at someone's house, Luna, stop talking," Usagi said, avoiding the question, while scooping Saura's cards back into the bag.

It was all true, she and Mina could probably pass for fraternal twins, but that made sense. Mina was supposed to be able to pass for Usagi, or rather Princess Serenity, after all. And yes, four months ago, Usagi would have been ecstatic to be a model. But in the time Usagi had grown to be such a beauty, she had changed inside as well as outside. Maybe it was part of her transition into queen, maybe it was simple maturation, but that fact was that glimpses of Serenity were beginning to show more and more in her.

As if on cue, just as Usagi was able to put Sakura's Cards back into the pink back (trying to hide them from Luna, who was still a bit too sleepy to notice their pulse of power), Sakura and Tomoyo came in through the door.

Three teacups were set on a tray along with cake slices, and Sakura carried them in with grace. Tomoyo had a bag in here hand that contained the rest of the cake she had baked just his morning. It would be going to Kero, of course. Though he didn't need to eat, the guardian probably ate more than Tomoyo and Sakura both, even if Sakura was trying a diet currently. He probably couldn't east more than Usagi, but we'll get into that later…

Tea was served and the girls became friends quite quickly.

Kero paced back and forth while Sakura said goodbye to the departing Usagi and Tomoyo downstairs.

What exactly had gone on back there? A talking cat! A girl who seemed totally oblivious to the fact that her cat was talking! And that power that came from the girl. It was strong. Sakura wouldn't have noticed it, it only seemed to hum its true strength. But because Usagi's power was that of the moon, Kero felt it especially. It seemed to oppose his own power. And yet, it also seemed to search for something inside his power, something it loved, even yearned for. He couldn't tell for sure what it was exactly, but knew that he had to inform Sakura quickly. She was strong, too strong. Sakura would have to be careful. She hadn't exceeded Clow's previous power yet, and this new girl was, quite likely, much stronger than Clow.


	3. Chapter 3

Note beforehand (please read and don't skip):

This chapter is a bit long, which is good, I expect, but a good chunk of it will be some background. Often when reading cross-overs, I like authors to fill in as many holes as possible (such as what happened to him and why did she go there, and why did they break up) with more than a dismissive sentence that some (but not all) authors tend to give. That said, I expect to do the same for my (few) readers, not only just for them but for myself also. So this chapter will have some development, but also some background, so that I can reintroduce characters later in the story without confusion. Also, for those wonderers out there, I can, hopefully answer some questions. Mamoru will, however remain a secret, as I am still not quite sure how I want him to play into the story. No hints, however I will say that I am not a basher.

Important: I'm not quite sure how many scouts I want in this series. Don't get me wrong, I love the scouts and find each unique and important. The fact is, there's too many of them. They make a full story by themselves, therefore making it hard to use them in a crossover (which is already a combination of two stories!). Too many characters are too much for my brain to handle. Kudos to Naoko Takeuchi (sp?).

Also, (I know this is getting ridiculously long, but please bear with me, you might find it a bit interesting,) I am borrowing a bit of plot/character stuff from the SM Live action series. You'll see it most with Minako, a bit with Rei, and I'm still considering with Luna.

Bravo for reading! My thanks if you did. On to the story.

BEGIN:

Sakura sat on her bed with a grave look on her face. Tomoyo sat on the carpet instead, preferring a back rest to a softer seat. She sipped her tea slowly and slightly turned her head back to peer over the rim of the tea cup at Sakura. Kero had just explained to both of them the potential threat he saw in their new transfer student Usagi.

"Did you feel it?" Kero said, shaking his head. "It was so strong. I know she was trying to hide it, but if you can feel her power, then we might have a chance."

"I felt a bit of power from her," Sakura admitted, "But, it can't be, no one is stronger than Clow. And a talking cat, that seems a little-"

Sakura stopped herself. A talking cat was no more ridiculous than a talking animal (even if he was secretly a mighty guardian). But these things that she was hearing, it seemed so unreal. Long before, Kero had told her there was more magic in the world than just the Clow cards. However, despite that warning, the only magic Sakura had ever encountered had all revolved around the Clow cards, or her own Sakura cards.

Speaking of the Sakura cards…

Although, Sakura hadn't had the chance to tell Kero yet, the Cards had been a little bit different since Usagi had left, that being an understatement. The ones under the power of the moon had changed color, from their Sakura Card pink, to a mysterious silver color. Additionally, the backs of the cards had changed, from Sakura's star symbol, to a shining white crystal that almost looked like a rose the way it was opened up. Faintly, in back of the crystal-rose, there was a pale crescent moon that didn't even show unless the light shined directly on it. Sakura took a deep breathe and held up the Cards, pink in on hand, silver in the other, fanning them out to display the difference.

Tomoyo gasped and Kero looked down, shaking his head. Ther was a long pause before he spoke.

"She changed them."

Usagi walked home alone. During her stay at the Kinmoto house, Luna had snuck out of the house to check up on the apartment (and Hotaru, but we'll get into that later). Usagi had moved out of her house when she had reached high school. Her parents had worried at first, but because it seemed that these days, Usagi was getting more and more serious, they relented and let her move out. What could they do? Usagi was growing up, and it seemed like most of her friends lived on their own. As parents, their jobs had gotten lighter and lighter, her friends being the ones to take care of her, it always seemed. It was a bit saddening, but they still had Shingo and Usagi had to grow up sometime.

Usagi had changed. Once upon a time, her only friend had been Molly (sorry, forgot her Japanese name ;;). Once upon a time, she had been a complete failure in school. But then again, once upon a time, she had also bee a princess on the moon. The fact was; Usagi had changed. She had made more and more friends (all scouts, granted, but they were good friends). With a bit of help from Ami and the rest of them, she was able to pull her grades up and get her act together. And now, she was even living on her own, even taking care of Hotaru, while the outers did their various famous things. She lived off of phone calls from Minako, food from Makoto, self-assuring visits from Rei, and pleasant letter from Ami.

Usagi's beloved Inners…

Minako had become a star, rising towards fame, launching both a singing and modeling career. She had been in a few magazines over the year, and had just released her cd, entitled "Romance", after reaching top ten with her single release "C'est la Vie." She was currently in Tokyo, trying to break into acting also, to become an all-around idol. Her spark in photographs and in person, seemed to be rocket her to ever growing success, not to mention " hot boys galore" to get an exact quote from her lips. Artemis was going crazy.

Makoto had begun to work in a bakery after school, bringing Usagi treats all the time. While Makoto was grateful for the unusually high salary she received as a part timer at the bakery, in reality, the bakery probably needed her more than she needed it. Makoto, probably would have a higher salary, if she fulfilled her dream of owning her own bakery. However, still being in high school, Makoto wanted a proper education that was expected of all the scouts by Setsuna (and Makoto looked up to the outers as almost replacement parents, or perhaps older siblings). She was in the process of arranging transfer to Usagi's new high school, but her councilor seemed to think that, because of her past reasons for transferring, she shouldn't switch school mid-year, as Usagi had.

Rei was still going to the rich-girl private school she had gone to all her life and yearned to get away from it. Her separation from Usagi seemed unfair, given that all the other scouts had been able to attend school with her at some point. Then, she had her priestess duties, which ate up much of her free time. A lot of it was boys, who came to the temple to flirt with the beautiful mysterious princess. Rei, however, wasn't quite a boy –crazy girl, not like Minako. She wasn't quite a phone person either, and so, missing her friend, she resorted to as many visits to Usagi's house as possible, which, as an added bonus, got her away from her ever prying grandfather, who seemed to get more annoying as more and more boys visited the temple instead of girls.

Ami had gone to study in Germany, of all places, on a student-exchange program. Of course, with a little bit of scouts power and a bit of her own genuine genius ability to learn basically everything, she'd become perfectly fluent in German in a matter of a week. There, although she had refused to skip grades (when she returned, she wanted to be able to be in the same class as Usagi again), she studied branching fields of advanced math and science. It just so happened that the Outers were there too, because Haruka had entered a big league racing competition. She had dragged with her Michiru, of course, while Setsuna followed because of the scientific possibilities of working with some brilliant German minds.

Usagi's thoughts stopped their reflection upon how things had changed.

Luna, although in her human form, was curled up in a very cat-like position on the couch. Her soft breathing told Usagi she was asleep, and Usagi made very sure to be quiet. Despite her efforts, she had to let out a small scream when she flipped on the lights in her room, only to find an intelligent boy waiting for her, sitting on her bed with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

END

Wow, I really like cliffies, and commentary too apparently. Not to be a greedy beggar, but I really love reviews. –hint, hint- Also, any ideas you guys have would be wonderful to have. They really do mean a lot because I don't write so much for the fun of writing but for the fun of seeing how things can be made to fit together so perfectly well sometimes. (I'd actually like it better if I could give people my ideas and have them write it for me, I am more of a reader than a writer, but writing is kind of good practice for school, so oh well.) Haha, I babble a lot. Sorry, maybe I'm super hyper because it's SUMMER! Okay, bye.


	4. Chapter 4

SUPER BONUS CHAPTER

Uh-oh, in my original idea for the story, I wanted Hotaru in it and then decided it would be easier to cut her out, for my sake. However, I accidentally forgot to erase that one part mentioning her. Oh well, I guess I could still work her in, unless my kind readers would be fine without her.

Well, I guess it'll be a vote. Tell if you want her in, and tell me if you don't. If you don't care, write "no." And no votes will mean that I cut her out.

She won't be in this chapter, so hopefully, no problems!

BEGIN:

"Hello, Serenity," Eriol spoke in his calm and controlled manner. "I didn't know that you had decided to visit the Earth."

Usagi took a step back, trying to assess the situation. The young man in front of her, she could tell, wasn't as strong as she was, but somehow, she knew that he had a better grasp of his powers than she. She grabbed her chest, feeling for her transformation brooch before remembering that she no longer needed it to transform.

Eriol was surprised when Princess Serenity didn't respond, he was even more surprised to see that she even looked like she was afraid, if anything, he should have been afraid of her. He checked over her aura, to find it surprisingly unstable. She wasn't in full control of her powers, he realized with relief. That would make things easier.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

"I thought you would be able to tell, princess," he said.

He looked at her face and it showed no recognition.

"I am Clow Reed."

A memory came back to Usagi from her past life on the Moon…

"_Princess Serenity," someone spoke, "This is the ambassador from Earth, Clow Reed."_

_The princess turned away from her wondrous view of the palace gardens, stepping into her favorite room of the palace from the balcony. She saw a well-dressed man with hair that rivaled that of Venus and Mars in length. He had wiry glasses and a calm peaceful smile. Serenity matched that smile with one her own beautiful smiles and walked up to him. Luna stepped into view from behind Serenity's billowing dress, her intelligent eyes making it seem very clear that she was the young princess' advisor and guardian, which immediately drew the attention of the Earth ambassador._

"_Luna has a human form if you wish to see it," Serenity spoke with a tinkling giggle of laughter._

_To Clow's amazement, the black cat transformed into a woman with long wavy hair that was partially done up in buns. Her dress seemed a bit out of place, lacking the properness of the palace, but Clow hardly took notice. She looked a bit peeved at her princess._

"_I am not a toy that you can transform for you enjoyment. But since it will make negotiations smoother to be in this form, so I will let it slide princess," Luna said in a prim voice, then she spoke to Clow with a much more charming voice, "Pleased to meet you."_

"_The pleasure is all mine," Clow said with a smile, "About negotiations, then."_

_The three chatted about relations and ways to forge an alliance between the Earth and Moon nations. Serenity was quite charmed with the Earth ambassador, and the issue at hand was soon put aside. Clow marveled at the advances in magic made on the moon. While the Silver Millennium lacked the simpler spells that many magicians had mastered on Earth, it had cultivated a wide variety of other spells, mostly for battle and reconnaissance. Serenity, seemed disappointed with her own power when she witnessed a few bits of more ordinary magic that Clow performed for her. Her wide-eyed amazement amused Clow._

"_These are only small tricks, nothing for the greatest magician of Earth, I assure you," Clow explained, though not at all in a condescending manner, "I could make it so that you could do such things too, princess. You certainly have enough power."_

"_Would you? Would you really?" Serenity exclaimed._

"_I've been testing a way to put spells into things such as cards," Clow answered, "all I would need is a bit your aura."_

"_But of course!" said Serenity, and she held her hand out to him, giving him a just a bit of her power. He took it easily into his own power, and chuckled at her innocent eagerness._

"_I'll have some cards ready for you by the next time we meet, Princess. I'll escort the Prince to the next ball perhaps? It may take a bit longer than that, though," Clow explained._

_Serenity smiled in delight at Clow's generosity._

"_It will come at a price, though," Clow said mischievously. He clarified as he saw the princess' pouting face. "You will have to tell me how it is that your guardian transforms from animal form to human form. The spell, it is something I would like to try myself."_

"_Well, it will require a bit more of Moon power," Serenity began…_

"I remember," Usagi spoke slowly, "You knew Endymion and I fell in love, so you decided to make a present for the both of us. A Sun and Moon deck of cards for certain spells. You even said you had another special surprise for the both of us. You took more of my power and his too. We trusted you so much…believed our powere would return to us…"

"But then our kingdoms went to war. We…we all died after that," Luna said. She had been awakened by Usagi's muffled gasp from earlier. She appeared to be fully awake, sitting in the doorway in her cat form. Her eyes sparkled as a thought began to form within her mind.

"This is why Usagi can't become Queen Serenity, why mamoru can't become King Endymion, why Chibi-Usa hasn't been born yet…it all makes sense," Luna whispered. She turned to Eriol and locked eyes with the boy, her fierce determination matching his fierce stare.

"Clow, we need those cards."

END

Well, this was a bit shorter than the rest of my chapters, and people say that I should write longer chapters, so I guess this'll be a mini-update, meaning it won't count as part of my attempt at weekly updates. I'll try and update with a couple of big ones later on, because I will be leaving for a while on vacation. Well, this is what I say…

If you wanna know, reviews encourage me to write more. I get so happy when I see my inbox stuffed with review alerts, I really do. So, as always, review review review!

I'm not really being a hog this time. I want to hear if you liked it and stuff, but also…I can't seem to think how I'm going to climax this thing and end it. If I can't figure it out soon, I might not update for a while. And if I never figure it out I might hafta drop the fic – which would suck cuz I like this one! So give me ideas people! I will graciously thank those who help me in my next chapter.

But still review even if you don't have an idea! Haha, I'm a review-whore.


	5. Chapter 5

**OH MY GOD! IT'S BEEN A YEAR SINCE I UPDATED THIS… MORE ACTUALLY, I'M SOOO SORRY, SO I'LL STOP TALKING, HERE YOU GO:**

Usagi bit her lip and twisted a long strand of her golden hair with a thin, slender finger as she walked to school. The picture of a percolating goddess was ruined however when she stuck the hair in her mouth, chewing it with her lips in a childish pout.

Something isn't right, she thought. It had been nagging at her all night long, though she wasn't exactly sure what "it" was. A feeling? A memory? …Perhaps nothing?

Her thoughts drew back towards the previous night when the reincarnation of Clow had explained the situation of her cards and power to her. The way things stood, it seemed no one was at fault. And while, Usagi knew she was entitled to the cards, she couldn't possibly think of taking the cards away from her new friend.

Sakura and Tomoyo…

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go to school, she reasoned. She wasn't sure she could face them after last night's revelations. Then again, they didn't know anything and it wouldn't do to miss a day of school, still being in her first week.

Usagi sighed. It seemed her feet had decided for her whether or not to attend school that day, as they had led her to the front gate of her high school. However…

She was early. (She was proud that she had managed not to be late to school yet, because Tomoeda High started a full 30 minutes later than her previous high school had.)

"Maybe I can go back if no one hasn't seen me," Usagi spoke to herself.

"Now why would you want to do that?"

Usagi turned to see Tomoyo behind her, looking as pretty as always with a small smile and bright eyes. Usagi smiled despite herself – Tomoyo tended to have that effect of people.

"School's such a drag, you know?" Usagi stuck her tongue out in a sheepish way.

"Then let's sit outside for a bit," Tomoyo replied, linking arms with the blonde beauty and dragging them to rest under a cherry blossom tree.

Usagi eased up a little bit as the two began to chat about their favorite movies. Usagi talked about how she had once hoped act in glamorous movies while Tomoyo confessed that her previous dream had been to film one.

It was nice, Usagi thought. She hadn't realized she was a bit lonely, even with Hotaru and Luna there with her. She had once been surrounded by friends at school, and it was odd to know so little people. This made her feel all the more guilty about the cards and her role with them. But she needed them. According to Luna, it was for the future of the world…

But perhaps, therein lay the problem. Usagi didn't know if she wanted Crystal Tokyo for the future, though she hardly had the guts to tell this to her guardian.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Usagi-chan?" Tomoyo's voice cut through Usagi's thoughts as she pointed at the heart-shaped engagement ring on Usagi's slender fourth finger.

Usagi looked down at the ring in surprise. She still wore the old thing by habit, though she and Mamoru had come to the mutual agreement to stop seeing each other. Usagi sighed softly – that was the real reason she had to switch schools. After the battle with Galaxia came the realization that maybe Crystal Tokyo wasn't all she had dreamed for. Because the battle had shown her that there would always be wars, she realized that Crystal Tokyo could never be the prefect Utopia that she had envisioned. Now, all Usagi wanted was to maintain the peace and quiet of this life, though even that seemed quite impossible with her vast powers.

"Usagi?"

The blonde was startled by the calling of her name.

"I'm sorry," Tomoyo apologized gently, and continued in response to the look on the blonde's face, "I hope I didn't remind you of bad memories."

"Not at all," Usagi waved the notion off with a flick of her slender hand, a cheerful smile on her face, "It is from my old boyfriend, but we broke up long ago…and we're still friends. That's what counts most, I think."

Usagi then paused for a second.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Tomoyo-chan?" Usagi questioned, "You seem by far pretty enough to get a guy."

Tomoyo laughed lightly, "I haven't even liked anyone since fifth grade, and as you would suspect, it being fifth grade…that was a childhood crush. So, no, I've never had a boyfriend."

Usagie smiled, and was about to say something along the lines of "boys, they may be cute, but who needs them?", when a voice called from a small distance.

"Tomoyo!"

The pair of girls turned around to see the caller, who was running towards them. It was Li Syaoron, looking nothing less than very pissed off.

"Tomoyo, get over here, get away from her!" The boy called to his friend.

Tomoyo shot Usagi a worrisome look, but she did not move away from her. Then, Tomoyo looked back at Syaoran.

"I told her she shouldn't tell him," Tomoyo mumbled, speaking more to herself than to Usagi, "I wanted to explain this to you first, but I had to know…"

Usagi didn't quite understand, but she was sure that all of this had something to do with the cards. Had Tomoyo and Sakura somehow found out about the cards and her personal history with them? But Clow had promised not to tell just yet – they both had agreed things still needed to be sorted out when he'd left last night.

By now, Syaoran had shortened the distance between himself and the girls.

He grabbed Tomoyo's wrist, although being careful to be gentle with her, and pulled her behind him protectively. As he faced Usagi, he shifted to a fighting stance.

"You," he spoke with harsh tones, "Fight me. If I win, you turn them back."

"What?" Usagi responded incredulously, "I don't – I'm afraid I don't understand."

"You understand, perfectly," he sneered. "Now, fight me."

"Syaoran, don't-" Tomoyo began to speak, but she was cut off by her best friend's boyfriend.

"Tomoyo, be quiet and stay out of this. This is dangerous. She is dangerous."

"I'm afraid I'm not the dangerous one," Usagi huffed, "Because I am _not_ going to fight you."

"Yes, you will," Syaoran answered.

In a split second, he had cut the distance between them, his fist centimeters from her face.

"You will, or you'll die," He threatened aggressively.

Usagi grabbed her brooch instinctively, though she had no intention to transform here and now.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist and she was pulled back in a manner similar to what had happened to Tomoyo only moments earlier. She found herself behind none other than Clow Reed, though somewhere in the back of her mind, she awkwardly acknowledged he liked to be called Hiiragizawa Eriol in this lifetime.

"Syaoran," Eriol spoke slowly, as if he were tired, and that this matter was altogether a annoying, but not serious one.

"Hiiragizawa," Syaoran lashed out angrily, "I should have known you'd have something to do with this, you always do."

"Syaoran," Eriol sighed, "Back down, this is neither the time nor place."

Then, he added teasingly, "Besides, it's very likely that this girl would beat the crap out of you in a real fight. I'm sure you saw what she did to the cards."

"Yes," Syaoran answered, "I did see, which is why this whole thing is happening in the first place. This girl stole Sakura's-"

"'Stole' isn't a very nice word, Syaoran," Eriol cut off the other boy, "I'll tell you what, we'll fight, if you beat me, then you can fight Usagi-san. You have to be stronger than me to beat her anyway."

At this, Syaoran didn't answer with words, but instead offered a kick to his ancestor, who parried off the attack easily enough. The two began exchanging blows.

Taking the opportunity of distraction, Tomoyo ran up to Usagi. She took the blonde's hand in hers and gestured towards a direction of escape.

"Oh, darn both of them. School's starting soon. They're bound to attract attention," Tomoyo muttered to herself, adding the afterthought, "But I suppose, Eriol-kun will have taken care of that already with his magic."

"Tomoyo," Usagi drew the attention the slightly shorter girl back.

"Usagi-chan," Tomoyo smiled one of her assuring smiles, "I'm sorry about this. We're going to go to my house now. There are things I have to explain…"

**Looking at my fics, I realized I hadn't updated this in a year. I'm soooo sorry. I really am. IN fact, so sorry I wrote this chapter right now, even though I should be studying for finals. Will you forgive me? I will finish this story, I promise.**

**I'm sorry if this chapter seems rushed, but it is…I'll edit it later, though, after finals.**

**And I guess it's greedy to ask for this now, but…reviews please.**


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